Refrigerator appliance with direct-cooled in-door chamber

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator appliance includes a cabinet that defines a chilled chamber. A door is rotatably mounted to the cabinet at a front portion of the chilled chamber. A food storage chamber is defined within the door. The refrigerator appliance also includes a sealed system configured for generating chilled air. The sealed system is in direct fluid communication with the in-door food storage chamber to provide the chilled directly to the in-door food storage chamber.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to refrigerator appliances. Inparticular, the present disclosure relates to refrigerator applianceshaving a door-in-door compartment or chamber which is directly cooled bya sealed cooling system of the refrigerator appliance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Refrigerator appliances generally include a cabinet that defines chilledchambers for receipt of food items for storage. One or more insulated,sealing doors are provided for selectively enclosing the chilled foodstorage chambers. Consumers generally prefer chilled chambers thatfacilitate visibility and accessibility of food items stored therein.

In certain refrigerator appliances, commonly referred to as side-by-sidestyle refrigerator appliance, the fresh food chamber is positioned nextto the freezer chamber within the cabinet. Such a configuration canpermit easy access to food items stored on doors of the refrigeratorappliances. However, the cabinet can be deep and narrow such thataccessing food items at a back of the fresh food chamber and/or freezerchamber is difficult.

In other refrigerator appliances, the freezer chamber is positionedeither above or below the fresh food chamber in the cabinet, which arecommonly referred to as top mount or bottom mount refrigeratorappliances. Such a configuration can provide a relatively wide freshfood chamber and/or freezer chamber, e.g., as compared to theside-by-side configuration. However, the depth of the fresh food chamberand the freezer chamber can make accessing food items at a back of therefrigerator appliance difficult.

Accordingly, a refrigerator appliance with features for assisting withaccessing food items stored therein would be useful.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in thefollowing description, or may be apparent from the description, or maybe learned through practice of the invention.

In an exemplary embodiment, a refrigerator appliance is provided. Therefrigerator appliance defines a vertical direction, a lateral directionand a transverse direction. The vertical, lateral and transversedirections are mutually perpendicular. The refrigerator applianceincludes a cabinet extending from a top to a bottom along the verticaldirection. The cabinet also extends from a left side to a right sidealong the lateral direction. The cabinet defines a fresh food chamber.The fresh food chamber extends along the vertical direction between thetop and bottom of the cabinet, along the lateral direction between theleft side and the right side of the cabinet, and along the transversedirection between a front portion and a back portion. The front portionof the fresh food storage chamber defines an opening for receipt of fooditems. A door is rotatably mounted to the cabinet at the front portionof the fresh food storage chamber such that the door rotates between aclosed position where the door sealingly encloses at least a portion ofthe fresh food storage chamber and an open position to permit access tothe fresh food chamber. The door includes an outer casing comprising athermally insulated wall that defines an in-door chamber within theouter casing and a front panel rotatably mounted to the outer casing ofthe door such that the front panel of the door permits access to thein-door chamber when the door is in the closed position. Therefrigerator appliance also includes a sealed system configured forgenerating chilled air and a duct directly fluidly connecting the sealedsystem with the in-door chamber to provide the chilled air directly fromthe sealed system to the in-door chamber

In another exemplary embodiment, a refrigerator appliance is provided.The refrigerator appliance includes a cabinet that defines a chilledchamber. The chilled chamber includes a front portion and an opening forreceipt of food items. A door is rotatably mounted to the cabinet at thefront portion of the chilled chamber such that the door rotates betweena closed position where the door sealingly encloses at least a portionof the chilled chamber and an open position to permit access to thechilled chamber. The door includes an outer casing comprising athermally insulated wall that defines an in-door chamber within theouter casing and a front panel rotatably mounted to the outer casing ofthe door such that the front panel of the door permits access to thein-door chamber when the door is in the closed position. Therefrigerator appliance also includes a sealed system configured forgenerating chilled air and a duct directly fluidly connecting the sealedsystem with the in-door chamber to provide the chilled air directly fromthe sealed system to the in-door chamber.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with reference to the followingdescription and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which areincorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrateembodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serveto explain the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including thebest mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is setforth in the specification, which makes reference to the appendedfigures.

FIG. 1 provides a perspective view of an exemplary refrigeratorappliance according to one or more embodiments of the present subjectmatter with front panels of the doors in an open position while thedoors are each in a closed position.

FIG. 2 provides a perspective view of the refrigerator appliance of FIG.1 with a first fresh food chamber door and a second fresh food chamberdoor both in an open position.

FIG. 3 provides a schematic illustration of an example sealed coolingsystem as may be used with one or more embodiments of the presentsubject matter.

FIG. 4 provides a side section view of the exemplary refrigeratorappliance of FIGS. 1 and 2 taken through the right-hand door.

FIG. 5 provides a side section view of the exemplary refrigeratorappliance of FIGS. 1 and 2 taken through the left-hand door.

FIG. 6 provides a schematic view of a chilled air supply for an in-doorchamber of a refrigerator appliance according to one or more embodimentsof the present subject matter.

FIG. 7 provides a schematic view of a chilled air supply for an in-doorchamber of a refrigerator appliance according to one or more additionalembodiments of the present subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention,one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Eachexample is provided by way of explanation of the invention, notlimitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be madein the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit ofthe invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as partof one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a stillfurther embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present inventioncovers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

As used herein, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third” may be usedinterchangeably to distinguish one component from another and are notintended to signify location or importance of the individual components.Terms such as “inner” and “outer” refer to relative directions withrespect to the interior and exterior of the refrigerator appliance, andin particular the food storage chamber(s) defined therein. For example,“inner” or “inward” refers to the direction towards the interior of therefrigerator appliance. Terms such as “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,”“top,” or “bottom” are used with reference to the perspective of a useraccessing the refrigerator appliance. For example, a user stands infront of the refrigerator to open the doors and reaches into the foodstorage chamber(s) to access items therein.

As used herein, terms of approximation such as “generally,” “about,” or“approximately” include values within ten percent greater or less thanthe stated value. When used in the context of an angle or direction,such terms include within ten degrees greater or less than the statedangle or direction, e.g., “generally vertical” includes forming an angleof up to ten degrees either clockwise or counterclockwise with thevertical direction V.

FIGS. 1 and 2 provide perspective views of an exemplary refrigeratorappliance 100 according to one or more embodiments of the presentsubject matter. Refrigerator appliance 100 defines a vertical directionV, a lateral direction L, and a transverse direction T, each mutuallyperpendicular to one another. As may be seen in, e.g., FIG. 1,refrigerator appliance 100 includes a cabinet or housing 120 thatextends between a top 101 and a bottom 102 along a vertical direction V,between a left side 104 and a right side 106 along the lateral directionL, and between a front 108 and a rear 110 along the transverse directionT. Cabinet 120 defines chilled chambers for receipt of food items forstorage. As used herein, a chamber may be “chilled” in that the chamberis operable at temperatures below room temperature, e.g., less thanabout seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit (75° F.). In the exemplaryembodiment, cabinet 120 also defines a mechanical compartment at or nearthe bottom 102 of the cabinet 120 for receipt of a sealed cooling system60. One or more conduits or ducts, e.g., ducts 54, 56, and 58 asillustrated for example in FIG. 1 may extend between the sealed coolingsystem 60 and the chilled chambers to provide fluid communicationtherebetween, e.g., to provide chilled air from the sealed coolingsystem to one or more of the chilled chambers, whereby the chilledchamber(s) may be operable at temperatures below room temperature.

In particular, cabinet 120 defines a fresh food chamber 122 (FIG. 2) anda freezer chamber 124 spaced apart from the fresh food chamber 122 alongthe vertical direction V. For example, in the illustrated embodiment ofFIGS. 1 and 2, fresh food chamber 122 is positioned at or adjacent top101 of cabinet 120 and freezer chamber 124 is arranged at or adjacentbottom 102 of cabinet 120. As such, refrigerator appliance 100 isgenerally referred to as a bottom mount refrigerator. It is recognized,however, that the benefits of the present disclosure may apply to othertypes and styles of refrigerator appliances such as, e.g., a top mountrefrigerator appliance, or a side-by-side style refrigerator appliance.Consequently, the description set forth herein is for illustrativepurposes only and is not intended to be limiting in any aspect to anyparticular refrigerator chamber configuration.

As may be seen in FIG. 2, the fresh food chamber 122 extends along thevertical direction V between the top 101 and the bottom 102 of thecabinet 120 and along the lateral direction L between the left side 104and the right side 106 of the cabinet 120. For example, the fresh foodchamber 122 may extend along the vertical direction V from the top 101to the bottom 102 of the cabinet 120 (such as in a side-by-sideconfiguration), or may extend from one of the top 101 or the bottom 102to the freezer chamber 124 (such as in a top or bottom mountconfiguration), for example, in the illustrated bottom-mount embodiment,the fresh food chamber 122 extends along the vertical direction V fromthe top 101 of the cabinet 120 to the freezer chamber 124. The freshfood chamber 122 also extends along the transverse direction T from afront portion 134 to a back portion 136. The front portion 134 of thefresh food storage chamber 122 defines an opening 138 for receipt offood items.

Refrigerator doors 126 and 128 are rotatably mounted, e.g., hinged, toan edge of cabinet 120 for selectively accessing fresh food chamber 122.Since refrigerator doors 126 and 128 correspond to the fresh foodchamber 122, the refrigerator doors 126 and 128 may also be referred toas fresh food chamber doors. Refrigerator doors 126 and 128 may bemounted to the cabinet 120 at or near the front portion 134 of the freshfood storage chamber 122 such that the doors 126 and 128 rotate betweena closed position (FIG. 1) where the doors 126 and 128 cooperativelysealingly enclose the fresh food storage chamber 122 and an openposition (FIG. 2) to permit access to the fresh food chamber 122. Thedoors 126 and 128 may be generally mirrored, e.g., the overall shape andsize of each door 126, 128 may be the same as the other door 126, 128,with possible internal variations. In addition, a freezer door 130 isarranged below refrigerator doors 126 and 128 for selectively accessingfreezer chamber 124. Freezer door 130 is coupled to a freezer drawer 132(FIGS. 4 and 5) slidably mounted within freezer chamber 124.Refrigerator doors 126, 128 and freezer door 130 are shown in the closedconfiguration in FIG. 1.

As shown for example in FIGS. 1 and 2, various storage components aremounted within the chilled chambers to facilitate storage of food itemstherein as will be understood by those skilled in the art. Inparticular, the storage components may include various combinations ofbins 202, drawers 204, and shelves 206 mounted within one or more of thechilled chambers. Bins 202, drawers 204, and shelves 206 are configuredfor receipt of food items (e.g., beverages and/or solid food items) andmay assist with organizing such food items.

In addition to the fresh food chamber 122 and the freezer chamber 124,one or more chilled chambers may be defined in one or both of the doors126 and 128. For example, one or both of the refrigerator doors, e.g.,both right door 126 and left door 128 as in the illustrated example, mayinclude an outer casing 121 (FIG. 2) comprising a thermally insulatedwall 125 (FIG. 2) that defines one or more chilled chambers therein. Forexample, the right door 126 may include one or more fresh food storagechambers 123 (FIGS. 1 and 4) and the left door 128 may include at leastone chilled chamber 300. In some embodiments, the chamber 300 in thedoor 128 may be, e.g., a first freezer chamber 300. The freezer chamber300 may be referred to as an in-door freezer chamber because the chamber300 may be provided within one or both of the doors 126 and 128, e.g.,left door 128 in the illustrated example, such that the in-door freezerchamber 300 may be accessible without opening the respective door. Asshown, each door 126 and 128 may include a front panel 127 rotatablymounted to the outer casing 121 of each door 126 and 128 such that thefront panel 127 permits access to the chilled chamber(s) within therespective door, e.g., the fresh food storage chambers 123 in right door126 and the chamber 300 in left door 128, when the door 126 or 128 is inthe closed position, as shown for example in FIG. 1. In otherembodiments, the chamber 300 may be provided in either one of the rightdoor 126 or the left door 128, separately or in combination with anotherin-door chamber, e.g., the in-door chambers 123, in the other of theright door 126 or the left door 128.

In various embodiments, the fresh food storage chambers 122 and 123 maybe selectively operable within a first temperature range and the freezerchamber 300 may be selectively operable within a second temperaturerange including lower temperatures than the first temperature range. Forexample, the chamber 300 may be an in-door freezer chamber in that thechamber 300 is operable at a temperature lower than the temperature ofthe fresh food storage chambers 122 or 123, including temperatures at orbelow the freezing point of water. Additionally, where the in-doorfreezer chamber 300 is directly fluidly connected to the sealed coolingsystem 60, the in-door freezer chamber 300 may be operable independentlyof the freezer chamber 124, including at temperatures lower than atemperature of the freezer chamber 124.

For example, the first temperature range of the fresh food chamber 122may be between approximately thirty-three degrees Fahrenheit (33° F.)and approximately forty (40° F.) degrees Fahrenheit, such as betweenapproximately thirty-five degrees Fahrenheit (35° F.) and approximatelythirty-eight degrees Fahrenheit (38° F.). Also by way of example, thesecond temperature range may include temperatures less than thirty-twodegrees Fahrenheit (32° F.), such as about ten degrees Fahrenheit (10°F.), such as about zero degrees Fahrenheit (0° F.), and temperaturesgreater than forty degrees Fahrenheit (40° F.), such as about forty-fivedegrees Fahrenheit (45° F.) or higher, such as about sixty degreesFahrenheit (60° F.) or higher, such as about seventy degrees Fahrenheit(70° F.). Still further, it should be understood that fresh food storagechambers 122 and 123 and freezer chamber 300 may be selectively operableat any number of various temperatures and/or temperature ranges asdesired or required per application. For example, the in-door chamber300 may also or instead be a flexible chamber or a fresh food chamber.

The sealed system 60 may be in fluid communication with the variouschilled chambers to provide the chilled air to the chambers separatelyor in various combinations. In particular, the sealed system 60 may bedirectly in fluid communication with the in-door chamber 300. Forexample, a first duct 54 may extend between and provide fluidcommunication from the sealed system 60 to one or both of the fresh foodstorage chambers 122 and 123, a second duct 56 may extend between thesealed system 60 and the in-door chamber 300 to provide direct fluidcommunication from the sealed system 60 to the in-door chamber 300, anda third duct 58 may extend between and provide fluid communication fromthe sealed system 60 to the freezer chamber 124.

FIG. 3 provides a schematic view of the refrigerator appliance 100, inparticular the sealed cooling system 60 thereof. As illustrated in FIG.3, refrigerator appliance 100 includes a machinery compartment 62 thatat least partially contains components for executing a known vaporcompression cycle for cooling air. The components include a compressor64, a heat exchanger or condenser 66, an expansion device 68, and anevaporator 70 connected in series and charged with a refrigerant.Evaporator 70 is also a type of heat exchanger which transfers heat fromair passing over the evaporator to a refrigerant flowing throughevaporator 70 thereby causing the refrigerant to vaporize. As such,cooled air C is produced and configured to refrigerate chambers 122,123, 124, and 300 of refrigerator appliance 100. The cooled air C may bedirected to the food storage chambers 122, 123, 124, and 300 by a fan74.

From evaporator 70, vaporized refrigerant flows to compressor 64, whichoperates to increase the pressure of the refrigerant. This compressionof the refrigerant raises its temperature, which is lowered by passingthe gaseous refrigerant through condenser 66 where heat exchange withambient air takes place so as to cool the refrigerant. A fan 72 is usedto pull air across condenser 66, as illustrated by arrows A, so as toprovide forced convection for a more rapid and efficient heat exchangebetween the refrigerant and the ambient air.

Expansion device 68 further reduces the pressure of refrigerant leavingcondenser 66 before being fed as a liquid to evaporator 70.Collectively, the vapor compression cycle components in a refrigerationcircuit, associated fans, and associated compartments are sometimesreferred to as a sealed refrigeration system operable to force cold airthrough refrigeration chambers 122, 123, 124, and 300. The refrigerationsystem 60 depicted in FIG. 3 is provided by way of example only. It iswithin the scope of the present invention for other configurations ofthe refrigeration system to be used as well. For example, fan 74 may berepositioned so as to push air across evaporator 70, dual evaporatorsmay be used with one or more fans, and numerous other configurations maybe applied as well.

As may be seen in FIG. 4, the in-door fresh food storage chamber 123 andthe door 126 may be generally coextensive. For example, as seen in FIG.6, the chamber 123 and the door 126 may be generally coextensive alongthe vertical direction V, e.g. a vertical height of the in-door chamber123 may be about the same (excepting the thickness of the thermallyinsulated walls defining the chamber 123) as a vertical height of thedoor 126. Referring back to FIG. 4, the in-door fresh food storagechamber 123 may extend along the vertical direction V from a bottom 152of the door 126 to a top 154 of the door 126. The in-door fresh foodstorage chamber 123 and the door 126 may also be generally coextensivealong a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction V, e.g., atleast one of the lateral direction L and the transverse direction T,e.g., depending on the orientation of the door 126, e.g. whether thedoor 126 is in the closed position or the open position. For example,the door 126 may extend between a left side and a right side, e.g.,along the lateral direction L when the door 126 is in the closedposition, as illustrated in FIG. 1. In such embodiments, the flexiblechamber 123 may extend from the left side of the door 126 to the rightside of the door 126 such that the flexible chamber 123 is generallycoextensive with the door 126 along a direction perpendicular to thevertical direction V, e.g., the lateral direction L.

FIG. 5 provides a section view taken through second fresh food chamberdoor 128, including food storage chamber 300 (which, as noted above maybe but is not necessarily a freezer chamber) defined within the door128. The in-door chamber 300 may be generally coextensive with the door128, similarly to the chamber 123 and door 126 described above. In theillustrated example embodiment of FIG. 5, the in-door chamber 300includes a plurality of shelves 206 therein. In other embodiments,various additional storage components may be mounted within the freezerchamber 300, e.g., various combinations of bins 202 and/or drawers 204,as well as or instead of shelves 206.

FIG. 6 provides a schematic view of a chilled air supply for the in-doorchamber 300 according to one example embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the chilled air supply includes a directfluid connection from the sealed system 60, e.g., the evaporator 70thereof, to the in-door chamber 300 via duct 56. For example, chilledair from the sealed system 60 may travel to the in-door chamber 300without passing through the freezer chamber 124 due to the directconnection from the sealed system 60 to the in-door chamber 300. In someembodiments, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 6, a blower fan 160 may beprovided proximate the evaporator 70. The blower fan 160 may be operableto urge chilled air 1000 from the evaporator 70 into the duct 56 at aninlet 156 of the duct 56. In some embodiments, the blower fan 160 may bea variable speed blower fan 160, where the speed of the variable speedblower fan 160 may be adjusted based on a temperature setting or setpoint for the in-door chamber 300. In other embodiments, the blower fan160 may be a single-speed or fixed-speed blower fan. As illustrated, thesecond duct 56 extends from the inlet 156 to an outlet 158 in thein-door chamber 300 and a switching device or valve, for example, atwo-way shuttle valve 162, is located in the duct 56.

Still referring to FIG. 6, the two-way shuttle valve 162 selectivelydiverts a portion (which portion may be as little as zero percent (0%))of the air flow from the second duct 56 to the third duct 58. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the two-way shuttle valve 162 may beconnected to an inlet 164 of the third duct 58. As shown, the third duct58 extends from the inlet 164 to an outlet 166 in the freezer chamber124. The shuttle valve 162 may thereby direct airflow from the blowerfan 160 in any proportion to one or both of the freezer chambers 124 and300, including directing all, e.g., one hundred percent (100%), of thechilled air to the freezer chamber 124, all, e.g., one hundred percent(100%), of the chilled air to the in-door chamber 300, or any split orproportion therebetween.

Also shown in FIG. 6 is a fourth duct 170 which extends the in-doorchamber 300 to the freezer chamber 124, e.g., from an inlet 168 in thein-door chamber 300 to an outlet 172 in the freezer chamber 124. Thus,chilled air 1000 may flow from the in-door chamber 300 back to thesealed system 60 via the freezer chamber 124. For example, when theshuttle valve 162 is set to direct one hundred percent (100%) of thechilled air from the blower fan 160 to the in-door chamber 300, thefreezer chamber 124 may be cooled secondarily, e.g., the freezer chamber124 may be downstream of the in-door chamber 300 and may be cooled bythe chilled air 1000 from the in-door chamber 300. The freezer chamber124 may be secondarily cooled when, for example, a temperature set pointof the in-door chamber 300 is the same as or lower than a temperatureset point of the freezer chamber 124. In other cases, e.g., when thetemperature set point of the freezer chamber 124 is less than thetemperature set point of the in-door chamber 300, the shuttle valve 162may divert a portion or all of the chilled air from the blower fan 160into the third duct 58. In various situations, the position of theshuttle valve 162, e.g., the proportion of chilled air 1000 directed toeach chamber 124 and 300, may be adjusted based on the temperature setpoints of the chambers 124 and 300 and based on temperature measurementsfrom one or more temperature sensors, e.g., thermistors, in each of thechambers 124 and 300. It should be understood that the various ductsdescribed herein, e.g., the second duct 56, the third duct 58, and thefourth duct 170 may be foamed-in-place, e.g., the cabinet 120 of therefrigerator appliance 100 may be insulated with a foamed insulation,and the ducts 56, 58, and/or 170 may be embedded within the insulationwhereby the ducts will not intrude into the usable food storage space ofthe various chambers 122, 124, and/or 300. Thus, the cabinet 120 mayinclude a plurality of thermally insulated walls and the ducts 56, 58,and/or 170 may extend through the thermal insulation of at least one ofthe plurality of thermally insulated walls.

FIG. 7 provides a schematic view of a chilled air supply for the in-doorchamber 300 according to one or more additional embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In some embodiments, such as the example embodimentillustrated in FIG. 7, the blower fan 160, which may be a variable speedblower fan, as described above with respect to FIG. 6, may be directlyconnected to the inlet 156 of the second duct 56. In such embodiments,an axial fan 174 may be provided to urge air directly from the sealedsystem 60 into the freezer chamber 124. Thus, the flow of chilled air1000 may be apportioned between the in-door chamber 300 and the freezerchamber 124 by cycling the axial fan 174. In an example embodiment, theaxial fan 174 may be a single-speed axial fan, such that cycling theaxial fan 174 includes turning the axial fan 174 on or off, depending onthe temperature set points of the chambers 124 and 300 and/ortemperatures monitored by various temperature sensors therein. Asmentioned, the blower fan 160 may be a variable speed blower fan, wherethe speed of the variable blower fan 160 may be adjusted based on thetemperature set points and/or monitored temperatures. In some cases,e.g., when the temperature set point of the freezer chamber 124 is lowerthan the temperature set point of the in-door chamber 300, the axial fan174 may be activated to directly cool the freezer chamber 124.Additionally, a check valve 176 may be provided in the fourth duct 170which extends from the in-door chamber 300 to the freezer chamber 124.The check valve 176 may be oriented and configured to permit air flowfrom the in-door chamber 300 to the freezer chamber 124 whileobstructing or preventing air flow in the opposite direction, e.g., fromthe freezer chamber 124 to the in-door chamber 300. Thus, backflow ofchilled air 1000 from the freezer chamber 124 to the in-door chamber 300may be prevented or limited, e.g., when the axial fan 174 is activated,e.g., when the temperature setting of the freezer chamber 124 is lessthan the temperature setting of the in-door chamber 300.

Providing access to the chamber 300 via the front panel 127 of the door128 may advantageously increase accessibility of food items stored inthe chamber 300. For example, when the in-door chamber 300 is a freezerchamber, smaller food items such as a bag of frozen vegetables may bestored in the freezer chamber 300 to prevent or reduce such items frombeing obscured under or behind larger items such as a frozen turkey,frozen pizza, etc., as compared to when only a single chamber or portionof the refrigerator appliance 100 is provided for storing frozen items.Additionally, reducing the number of times the door 130 is opened mayalso advantageously reduce the energy consumption of the refrigeratorappliance, where the relatively smaller volume of the in-door chamber300 can be more readily chilled after opening the front panel 127 onlyas compared to chilling the entire freezer chamber 124 after opening thedoor 130.

Direct fluid communication from the sealed system 60 to the in-doorchamber 300, such as described in the context of various exampleembodiments above, provides numerous advantages. For example, when thein-door chamber 300 is in direct fluid communication with the sealedsystem 60 as opposed to being downstream of the freezer chamber 124 withrespect to the flow of chilled air 1000, the in-door chamber 300 may beoperable at a wider range of temperatures. For example, the in-doorchamber 300 may be operable at a temperature lower than that of thefreezer chamber 124. As another example, the in-door chamber 300 may beoperable at a temperature higher than that of the freezer chamber 124,e.g., by adjusting the shuttle valve 162 (FIG. 6) or cycling the axialfan 174 (FIG. 7).

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention,including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the invention, including making and using any devices orsystems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope ofthe invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examplesthat occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intendedto be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elementsthat do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if theyinclude equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differencesfrom the literal languages of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A refrigerator appliance defining a verticaldirection, a lateral direction and a transverse direction, the vertical,lateral and transverse directions being mutually perpendicular, therefrigerator appliance comprising: a cabinet extending from a top to abottom along the vertical direction, the cabinet also extending from aleft side to a right side along the lateral direction, the cabinetdefining a fresh food chamber, the fresh food chamber extending alongthe vertical direction between the top and the bottom of the cabinet,along the lateral direction between the left and right sides of thecabinet, and along the transverse direction between a front portion anda back portion, the front portion of the fresh food storage chamberdefining an opening for receipt of food items; a door rotatably mountedto the cabinet at the front portion of the fresh food storage chambersuch that the door rotates between a closed position where the doorsealingly encloses at least a portion of the fresh food storage chamberand an open position to permit access to the fresh food chamber, thedoor comprising an outer casing comprising a thermally insulated wallthat defines an in-door chamber within the outer casing, the doorfurther comprising a front panel rotatably mounted to the outer casingof the door such that the front panel of the door permits access to thein-door chamber when the door is in the closed position; a sealed systemconfigured for generating chilled air; and a duct directly fluidlyconnecting the sealed system with the in-door chamber to provide thechilled air directly from the sealed system to the in-door chamber. 2.The refrigerator appliance of claim 1, further comprising a variablespeed blower fan in fluid communication with the sealed system to urgethe chilled air from the sealed system into the duct and directly to thein-door chamber from an evaporator of the sealed system.
 3. Therefrigerator appliance of claim 1, wherein the cabinet also defines afreezer chamber extending along the vertical direction between the topand bottom of the cabinet and spaced apart from the fresh food chamberalong the vertical direction, wherein the duct is a first duct, andfurther comprising a second duct extending from the in-door chamber tothe freezer chamber.
 4. The refrigerator appliance of claim 3, furthercomprising a valve in the first duct, the valve configured to divert aportion of the chilled air to a third duct, the third duct extendingfrom the valve to the freezer chamber.
 5. The refrigerator appliance ofclaim 4, further comprising a variable speed blower fan in fluidcommunication with the sealed system to urge the chilled air from thesealed system into the first duct.
 6. The refrigerator appliance ofclaim 3, further comprising a variable speed blower fan in fluidcommunication with the sealed system to urge a first portion of thechilled air from the sealed system into the first duct and an axial fanin fluid communication with the sealed system to urge a second portionof the chilled air from the sealed system directly into the freezerchamber.
 7. The refrigerator appliance of claim 6, further comprising acheck valve in the second duct, the check valve oriented within thesecond duct such that air flow from the freezer chamber to the in-doorchamber through the second duct is obstructed by the check valve.
 8. Therefrigerator appliance of claim 1, wherein the cabinet comprises aplurality of thermally insulated walls, and the duct extends from thesealed system to the in-door chamber through the thermal insulation ofat least one of the plurality of thermally insulated walls.
 9. Therefrigerator appliance of claim 1, wherein the door is a first freshfood chamber door, further comprising a second fresh food chamber doormirrored with the first fresh food chamber door whereby the first freshfood chamber door and the second fresh food chamber door cooperativelysealingly enclose the fresh food chamber when the first fresh food dooris in the closed position and the second fresh food door is in a closedposition, the second fresh food door comprising a second outer casingand a second thermally insulated wall defining a fresh food storagechamber within the second outer casing.
 10. A refrigerator appliance,the refrigerator appliance comprising: a cabinet defining a chilledchamber, the chilled chamber comprising a front portion and an openingfor receipt of food items defined at the front portion; a door rotatablymounted to the cabinet at the front portion of the chilled chamber suchthat the door rotates between a closed position where the door sealinglyencloses at least a portion of the chilled chamber and an open positionto permit access to the chilled chamber, the door comprising an outercasing comprising a thermally insulated wall that defines an in-doorchamber within the outer casing, the door further comprising a frontpanel rotatably mounted to the outer casing of the door such that thefront panel of the door permits access to the in-door chamber when thedoor is in the closed position; a sealed system configured forgenerating chilled air; and a duct directly fluidly connecting thesealed system with the in-door chamber to provide the chilled airdirectly from the sealed system to the in-door chamber.
 11. Therefrigerator appliance of claim 10, further comprising a variable speedblower fan in fluid communication with the sealed system to urge thechilled air from the sealed system into the duct and directly to thein-door chamber from an evaporator of the sealed system.
 12. Therefrigerator appliance of claim 10, wherein the cabinet also defines afreezer chamber positioned below and spaced apart from the fresh foodchamber, wherein the duct is a first duct, and further comprising asecond duct extending from the in-door chamber to the freezer chamber.13. The refrigerator appliance of claim 12, further comprising a valvein the first duct, the valve configured to divert a portion of thechilled air to a third duct, the third duct extending from the valve tothe freezer chamber.
 14. The refrigerator appliance of claim 13, furthercomprising a variable speed blower fan in fluid communication with thesealed system to urge the chilled air from the sealed system into thefirst duct.
 15. The refrigerator appliance of claim 14, furthercomprising a variable speed blower fan in fluid communication with thesealed system to urge a first portion of the chilled air from the sealedsystem into the first duct and an axial fan in fluid communication withthe sealed system to urge a second portion of the chilled air from thesealed system directly into the freezer chamber.
 16. The refrigeratorappliance of claim 15, further comprising a check valve in the secondduct, the check valve oriented within the second duct such that air flowfrom the freezer chamber to the in-door chamber through the second ductis obstructed by the check valve.
 17. The refrigerator appliance ofclaim 10, wherein the cabinet comprises a plurality of thermallyinsulated walls, and the duct extends from the sealed system to thein-door chamber through the thermal insulation of at least one of theplurality of thermally insulated walls.
 18. The refrigerator applianceof claim 10, wherein the door is a first fresh food chamber door,further comprising a second fresh food chamber door mirrored with thefirst fresh food chamber door whereby the first fresh food chamber doorand the second fresh food chamber door cooperatively sealingly enclosethe fresh food chamber when the first fresh food door is in the closedposition and the second fresh food door is in a closed position, thesecond fresh food door comprising a second outer casing and a secondthermally insulated wall defining a fresh food storage chamber withinthe second outer casing.